Analysis Of Go Wild: Eat Fat, Run Free, By Richard Manning

Introduction

This paper is a book review with intent to analyze the work “Go Wild: Eat Fat, Run Free, Be Social, and Follow Evolution’s Other Rules for Total Health and Well Being” by John J. Ratey and Richard Manning. The paper will illuminate what motivated me to select this particular book. This review will also offer information from sources that either collaborate or contradict the book. Additionally, I will state how the book impacted my nursing practice.

Part I: Book

I purposely chose this book because it addressed some of the major chronic health issues that we are facing today such as cancer, cardiovascular disease, stroke, diabetics etc. and the major reasons why we continue to experience them. Ratey and Manning state that a major

In their discussions of common chronic diseases, Ratey and Manning fervently argued that our present, less “wild” lifestyle can be attributed as the main cause. Society’s deviations from our ancestral way of life (hunting, gathering, etc) and our lack of activity leads to the weakening of our immune systems, leaving us more susceptible to viruses and microbes. For example, take the case of an individual whose occupation requires a lot of physical activity. If that individual then migrates to a more sedentary occupation, their immune system will subsequently weaken as the health and physical fitness of the person declines. Therefore, the individual is more likely to fall sick from minor diseases that invade the

In addition to our removal from ancestral ways of living, the authors also claim that our increasing dependence on carbohydrates and agricultural grains has caused our civilization to decline. Society’s dependence on agriculture has led to “metabolic syndrome.” Metabolic syndrome describes It has resulted in diseases like diabetes, obesity, and heart disease- all of which are connected to sugar metabolism. Our diet, composed of a large amount of fats and carbs, differs drastically from that of our ancestors. According to Ratey and Manning (2014), the “fundamental truth we have to face [is the] indisputable fact that for millions of years, our ancestors lived on a diet that did not contain dense components of carbohydrates.” It is an important fact to reflect on, considering our steady decline in health and increasing prevalence of sugar-based